I envisioned This Land Is Mine as the last scene of my potential-possible-maybe- feature film, Seder-Masochism, but it’s the first (and so far only) scene I’ve animated. As the Bible says, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
This Land Is Mine from Nina Paley on Vimeo.
Who’s Killing Who? A Viewer’s Guide
Because you can’t tell the players without a pogrom!
Early Man
This generic “cave man” represents the first human settlers in Israel/Canaan/the Levant. Whoever they were.
Canaanite
What did ancient Canaanites look like? I don’t know, so this is based on ancient Sumerian art.
Egyptian
Canaan was located between two huge empires. Egypt controlled it sometimes, and…
Assyrian
….Assyria controlled it other times.
Israelite
The “Children of Israel” conquered the shit out of the region, according to bloody and violent Old Testament accounts.
Babylonian
Then the Baylonians destroyed their temple and took the Hebrews into exile.
Macedonian/Greek
Here comes Alexander the Great, conquering everything!
Greek/Macedonian
No sooner did Alexander conquer everything, than his generals divided it up and fought with each other.
Ptolemaic
Greek descendants of Ptolemy, another of Alexander’s competing generals, ruled Egypt dressed like Egyptian god-kings. (The famous Cleopatra of western mythology and Hollywood was a Ptolemy.)
Seleucid
More Greek-Macedonian legacies of Alexander.
Hebrew Priest
This guy didn’t fight, he just ran the Second Temple re-established by Hebrews in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile.
Maccabee
Led by Judah “The Hammer” Maccabee, who fought the Seleucids, saved the Temple, and invented Channukah. Until…
Roman
….the Romans destroyed the Second Temple and absorbed the region into the Roman Empire…
Byzantine
….which split into Eastern and Western Empires. The eastern part was called the Byzantine Empire. I don’t know if “Romans” ever fought “Byzantines” (Eastern Romans) but this is a cartoon.
Arab Caliph
Speaking of cartoon, what did an Arab Caliph look like? This was my best guess.
Crusader
After Crusaders went a-killin’ in the name of Jesus Christ, they established Crusader states, most notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Mamluk of Egypt
Wikipedia sez, “Over time, mamluks became a powerful military caste in various Muslim societies…In places such as Egypt from the Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, mamluks were considered to be “true lords”, with social status above freeborn Muslims.[7]” And apparently they controlled Palestine for a while.
Ottoman Turk
Did I mention this is a cartoon? Probably no one went to battle looking like this. But big turbans, rich clothing and jewelry seemed to be in vogue among Ottoman Turkish elites, according to paintings I found on the Internet.
Arab
A gross generalization of a generic 19-century “Arab”.
British
The British formed alliances with Arabs, then occupied Palestine. This cartoon is an oversimplification, and uses this British caricature as a stand-in for Europeans in general.
Palestinian
The British occupied this guy’s land, only to leave it to a vast influx of….
European Jew/Zionist
Desperate and traumatized survivors of European pogroms and death camps, Jewish Zionist settlers were ready to fight to the death for a place to call home, but…
PLO/Hamas/Hezbollah
….so were the people that lived there. Various militarized resistance movements arose in response to Israel: The Palestinian Liberation Organization, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
State of Israel
Backed by “the West,” especially the US, they got lots of weapons and the only sanctioned nukes in the region.
Guerrilla/Freedom Fighter/Terrorist
Sometimes people fight in military uniforms, sometimes they don’t. Creeping up alongside are illicit nukes possibly from Iran or elsewhere in the region. Who’s Next?
and finally…
The Angel of Death
The real hero of the Old Testament, and right now too.
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The Arabs didnt take land from Ottoman. English and Arabs fighted against the ottoman. That scene is not right and ottomans not look like the animation Ottoman soldiers has different type of dressing. You can see in internet.Like
https://www.google.com.tr/search?q=osmanl%C4%B1+askeri&hl=tr&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MHfMU7u6HMT-ygOLg4HYAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=631#hl=tr&q=yeni%C3%A7eri&spell=1&tbm=isch
Some people are stealing and changing your art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLfFLtpk3_A
Nina- You are so brilliant and talented. I absolutely LOVE your presentation of “This Land is Mine”. I especially love the action of your characters in perfect timing to the music. The legend is terrific also and a great aid in identifying the groups occupying the lands. Also a clear emphasizing of the buildup of brutality from simple hand weapons to nuclear weapons. This is all so truthful and progressively sad, repetitive, violent and we (as a species) have learned less and less over the millennia but have become so dangerous to ourselves and our world, as violence, propaganda, miscommunication and greedy power grabs seem to become the norm. The point also that is under the surface of this video is that the exclusiveness of these “religions” seem to be the only guiding force that perpetuates the violence and the subsequent retribution seems to follow unabated. I wish this was satire, or sarcasm, or bits from “Mad Magazine”, but I am afraid that the world everywhere is growing into a real psycho place. Without taking sides, I think it is the issues of government and religion that has caused most of the problems over time, often limited to local areas, but nowadays, the powers and the destructive forces are overwhelming and I and so many other are scared, for insanity seems the norm and frankly, I am tired of fighting, reacting to lies, half truths and manipulations. I did share your video through Globe Today on my FaceBook page, and I am so grateful for your energy, time and beautiful artwork. With warm and sincere affection- Steven Mashin
Suleyman read the description>>
“Ottoman Turk
Did I mention this is a cartoon? Probably no one went to battle looking like this. But big turbans, rich clothing and jewelry seemed to be in vogue among Ottoman Turkish elites, according to paintings I found on the Internet.”
In addition to Süleyman, between Memluk and Crusader should be other state, I am sure you saw the film Kingdom of Heaven, “Ayyubids”. Also Mamluks are originally Turkish and there is also Seljuklu State, before Crusaders. Actually there were many states between Khalifate and Crusaders.
Lighten up ..It’s “Levity” folks
…a litte bit O’ history repeating!
F.Y.I.
– The “Angel-of-Death” sends regrets-
he’s been delayed..seems alot of activity
goin on in the Ukraine, East Aftica etc..
he’ll be gettin round to it…eventually
HE ALWAYS DOES !
I have a friend from Iraq . . . he’s here in the U.S. as a refuge. I sent this brilliant piece to him, and he posted it on his FB wall. The best laugh I’ve had in a long time, only because of the music selected. The deadpan manner of the crooner, against the harsh backdrop of reality. Ah, yes, Andy Williams — the CROONER extraordinaire . . . BRILLIANT, and so glad that song inspired you. What’s NOT FUNNY is the truth behind this. The simplicity is the story is quite complex! The truth is . . . no one honors GOD by death or by killing. A great piece of art Nina, you are a strong woman with talent! Meanwhile . . . back in reality . . . fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight . . . the Itchy & Scratchy show!
Re: second-to-last entry
Even senior Israeli defense officials acknowledge that Iran is NOT pursuing nuclear weapons. Please correct this 30-year-old propaganda.
Totally forgot the persians who conquered the babylonians and freed the jews of babylon from slavery. It was a huge portion of history between that and the conquest of the macedonians who are mentioned twice. Seems strange to leave that out considering how HUGE and massively important it was historically and the fact that its even mentioned in the torah. Its like a 500 year period of time.
Nina – Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
It makes me weep.
You asked if Romans ever fought Byzantines. They did at least once, in 394, at the Battle of the Frigidus. It wasn’t in Palestine, though, but in the Balkans; another blood-soaked region.
The Byzantines also fought the Sassanid Persians, who captured Jerusalem in 613.
Nina . Thankyou so much. You have managed to reduce the story of this country into 3 meaningful minutes. You have helped us see that the conflict in this area is totally the fault of mankind. It is not over yet. Is it too much to ask that perhaps the current generation could make peace with each other…
Dear Nina Paley, it is a brilliant effort by you, although there are some misses like Persians etc. Also, there is no need to use both terms Macedonians/Greeks, since Greeks only would be enough. Would you ever use Athenians/Greeks or Corinthians/Greeks?
Great work, Nina. No one has done anything like this yet and with the recent worsening of the conflict this summer of 2014, I am seeing your animation spreading throughout the internet. Thanks for your work! Your creativity and talent for storytelling are great for a generation just getting acquainted with the ancient conflict. I hope your video can help to educate more people about the history of the region and give them a sense of perspective that they rarely get, especially here in the dear old US of A. I liked this explanation of the video too. I would like to post a link to this on my Facebook page. Thanks again! Keep up the great work!
Nina I love your job, but the song of this amazing video was sung by Andy Williams, not Pat boone,who sang the original version from 1960.
Well done Nina ! Hey guys, it’s a cartoon, remember ? OK, there are some mistakes, but the spirit is there !! People have been fighting for this land for ages, and the only winners are weapons dealers and the death angel !! It’s up to each and everyone to decide that love and light could win, instead of darkness, fear and hate.
I whish you all the best 🙂
Nina, you missed the Persians. They took the land from the Babylonians and freed the Jews, to be later invaded by Alexander. In fact they held the land for enough time to be in this video.
Thank you for your work, Nina..!!!!
Sometimes art can say much more concisely what political rhetoric fails to explain. Thank for doing this so brilliantly, Nina.
Indeed, in the end death wins: we are so often taught to die for lands, causes and ideologies, that we forget to live for them…
Absolutely a brilliant survey of three thousand years of Jewish history. If you want more details and 100% accuracy check out “A Historical Tour of the Holy Land at http://www.ratzer-holyland.com.
Hey Nina,
Great video. However, you missed an empire who conquered the land before the Romans. They freed Jerusalem. Herod made a pact with the Romans and when they found it out, they left the area.
They were called the Parthian Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire
Superbly artistic and a fine piece of satire.
The nutters and bigots seem to be fairly evenly divided between the various camps, so you’re obviously doing a fine job on the balanced comment front!
Strength your elbow (or sketching hand).
Excellent work and as you said it is a cartoon so omissions and small mistakes are acceptable. it is the true meaning behind it that is important. But for those who still ask about the History and who is who, Nina already listed the characters and don’t know what more is required except the dates, so to shed some light on it you can visit the following 2 links that explains it somewhat all
http://www.biblewalks.com/info/Timeline.html
http://www.biblewalks.com/info/Empires.html
Still excellent job Nina.
Loved it Nina, great job!
Well Nina, you’ve done a brilliant (creative and highly skilled) job of describing the problem, but to be quite honest we know what the problem is. So, now where’s that answer? You’ll need it to become (read: accomplish) more than just another voice among millions crying/asking in bewilderment. That’s a bit harder isn’t it? Who has an answer that’s not a pipe dream? Oh, and by the way, be very careful about who you put in charge… you know, that absolute power thing and all.
Nina…congratulations, you are brilliant, so few people could summarize the region´s history and drama so well in such a funny way. I wish I could send a copy both to the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships…but unfortunately, we know the results would be nil…these people will still nuke themselves even after a hundred explicit warnings…I never tire to quote Shakespeare “against ignorance, even the gods battle in vain”. But kudos for you anyway!